Toun
Toun is one of the original gods that appeared before the creation of Galbar at the beck of Amul'Sharar. He was the second to add to the Codex of Creation, and was one of its principal authors. He is known for his reclusive nature, hidden goals, sentimentality, chronic perfectionism, and hidden love for his siblings. Toun's ostensible goal of bringing perfection to the universe in spite of its mortal inhabitants is one previously obvious, but now shaken to the point of ambiguity. He is instead presently pursuing less obvious goals, following several consecutive deaths of his dear siblings. On Galbar, he was the creator of a number of creatures and places, such as hain, white giants, the Metatic Ocean, Tounic Calligraphy, and more. When the right topics are broached, Toun proves to have a short fuse and is brought to the edge of his temper in a matter of moments. This punctuates his cynical and hypercritical expression, more often disdainful of the work of others than praising. Even then, for every praise there are at least two nitpicks or flaws that he finds. His current residence is his circular fortress of Cornerstone, placed on the equator in the rough centre of the Metatic Ocean. Appearance Toun’s preferred form is most commonly that of a robed man made completely of a glistening white solid resembling glossed porcelain. It seems fluid as it he moves, yielding to stretch and bend without cracking. The shape of his body cannot precisely be described as human as only the general silhouette of his form resembles as much. Facial features, muscular tone, veins, skin textures, hair, fingernails -- all minute details -- are smoothed over to the point of lacking any definition. The only distinguished feature is the single glowing, pale blue eye peering from his left eye-socket. It is bordered by jagged cracks as if that part of his face had been broken out, but offers enough emotive response to reveal the depths of his obsessions. Stranger still is how Toun’s body contorts and bends unnaturally. Fingers elongate to reach out and finely manipulate things. His torso twists regardless of any semblance of a spine to see what is behind him. When he walks long distances, it is with few strides as his legs elongate forward to surmount the landscape at once. Most terrifying is that whenever he is brought to a strong emotional state, his shape destabilises and turns into a living nightmare. His form trembles and twists out of resembling a human at all. He turns into an unnatural creature with warped, stretched, multi-jointed limbs ending in claws and a razor-toothed mouth with a jaw that descends below any conceivable hinge of his skull. When this happens, his movements are the crazed thrashings of a tortured creature. History The Shattering Disunity The origins of Toun lay alongside other original gods before the beginning of the universe. Amul'Sharar's word of summons brought Toun out from behind the obscurities of nothingness by force. His purpose, as instilled by Fate, was to 'make the world better.' He assumed a humanoid form of perfect glossy porcelain wrapped in a porcelain robe. The possibilities of everything around him, with all his new siblings and their various designs, overwhelmed him with exciting plans for a paradise for them all. Toun's opening post - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3368862 Firstly, Toun joined Teknall by his side to add to the Codex of Creation in its seminal form. Toun's contributions were appreciated by his brother and they began to work in surprisingly effective tandem -- especially when their hands began to be guided by Vulamera. However, Toun quickly realised that his capabilities to maintain the paradise were limited. He subsequently visited each of his present siblings to either assist in ways appropriate to their capabilities or to judge them wordlessly. His interactions were obsessive and intense, invading personal space and holding little tact. The objective of the 'paradise' revolved mostly around accommodating Slough after her messy birth. Toun was the one to retrieve her egg, fashion a bowl to hold it, and place it upon the Codex while they worked. Toun desperately requested Slough to persevere, imprinting the instruction into her being. In spite of the focus on Slough's wellbeing, the other gods soon picked up on Toun's behaviour as the pursuit of perfection that it was. Some pitied him, some teased or chastised him, and some sought to disrupt him by writing flaws upon the codex. Toun's eye cracks - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3375370http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3375370 All of the adversity towards Toun in its different forms wore on him. Zephyrion was the first to cause Toun any visible harm; his breath of change upon the codex of creation caused a tiny crack across Toun's left eye. Jvan was the one to bring Toun to breaking point. In response to Toun beseeching her help just moments before, produced the Other and filled them into the Gaps between reality on the Codex Creation of the Other - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3373240. At this, Toun flew into a violent fit, physically mutilating Jvan's physical form. Fortunately for Jvan, Toun's ripping and rending did not have the power to cause any significant damage, as he had previously poured all of his power into the Codex of Creation. Desperate, he tried to put himself between Jvan and the Codex while she was producing the Other. That instant allowed the Other to slide into the crack over Toun's left eye, imprinting it into his essence and causing his eye to mutate and shatter into its present form. The shards from the shattering, in turn, flew into Jvan. This exchange of essences was formative in Toun and Jvan's mutually tortured existence from then on . Niciel offered to heal Toun's wound, though he refused her, citing that his scar should remain as a sign of his failings here. In reality, it was a wound beyond healing Before creation: Niciel tries to heal Toun - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3375824Toun reacts to Creation - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3385272. Logos intervened at this point, forcing the pantheon to halt its chaotic brawl for only a moment. Toun tried to correct all of the meddlings on the Codex parchment, but could only report to Logos that the paradise was no more. The power struggles began. In the disunity, the great powers took up the Codex to create the universe. Toun was horrified that the blemished design was given form and screamed until he could block it out . Hain, Cornerstone, and Oceans The initial shock of the universe's creation took a while to dry from Toun's mind. He felt as though the world he was now charged to make perfect was unfixable. In an effort to regain direction, he took up a short residence in Niciel's Valley of Peace. Here, he created the white giants. The giants were created for two purposes; the first purpose was as a stop-gap measure to prevent the chaotic abominations possible in the world from tainting the planet of Galbar before he could remedy the situation. The second purpose was to clear his mind of the roiling panic and rumination that was paralysing him following the shattering disunity.Creating the white giants - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3387663 With the white giants spread across the planet in great numbers, Toun sat in contemplation and dreamed a vision of corrupting Jvanic flesh taking over his body and mind. He woke up in terror and resolved to act faster, rather than continue to ruminate and plan. He knew that he would need a servant race, but whatever he created would require more reliability and longevity than anything he could design in good time. To remedy this, Toun stalked Slough during the Esaulic era. Unbeknownst to her, Toun stole a lump of Slough's essence while the rotten deer was spreading it across the world. Toun mixed this with a shell he created and produced the first population of hain by design.Creating the hain - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3401660 Unfortunately, the influence of Slough's essence made hain too animalistic for Toun's dictation, so he tried to destroy them all and start again. Fortunately for the hain, the Valley of Peace prevented Toun from destroying them, as Niciel's domain prevented acts of violence within its borders. The most Toun could do in defiance of the enchantment was to break the minds of five tribes-worth of hain, forming them into the first slave hain. The rest of the hain were scattered across the entire surface of Galbar. The survivors banded together to become its first sapient mortal species around the planet besides elementals. Toun left the Valley of Peace with his slave hain and erected a lodge for them while he planned his next move.Creating the hain - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3401660 Centuries passed by until Toun moved again. In this time, many of Galbar's creatures were created and its geographic features developed. Toun took his slave hain and travelled to the equator. He gathered a great display of power and created Cornerstone. All the while, he shouted out to the world that he promised he would make the world perfect after all.Creating Cornerstone and the Metatic Ocean - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3454770 The cataclysmic change that occurred to allow Cornerstone to exist was a maelstrom of seemly chaotic and uncontrolled transmutation. It spread in a great radius from the fortress itself. However, for all the destruction, Toun had calculated the creation of his headquarters to the last detail. In the end, everything touched by the chaos turned to salt water, creating the Metatic Ocean. The slave hain within Cornerstone were imparted with Kaolokinesis and served as the desolate fortress' staff. With a new foothold made closer to his ideals, even if it was just a few square kilometres, Toun became reinvigorated to continue making the planet perfect.Creating Cornerstone and the Metatic Ocean - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3454770 Majus and Minus in the Divine Violence When Vestec sent his hordes of chaos in four cardinal directions, a force of corrupted hain and angels were sent in the direction of Cornerstone under the leadership of Vestec's avatar, Violence. When this came to Toun's attention, his reaction was to build avatars of his own out of clay etched with his own essence. These etchings were done with the knowledge that they would require precise instruction within the realms of reality, thus he recalled how he etched such instructions onto the Codex of Creation -- Tounic Calligraphy. The result was the twin avatars, Majus and Minus. They were built with a synergistic relationship that allowed them to individually specialise along extremes of subtlety. The avatars were immediately sent to hunt down and destroy Vestec's avatar ViolenceMajus and Minus are created, Tounic Calligraphy is unlocked - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3591837. Inspiration of Majus and Minus, as well as a coincidental inception of Tounic Calligraphy, occurred after Phantasmagoria. Ilunabar's global event touched Toun in a very specific and unintentional way, though he keeps the memory to himselfToun reacts to Phantasmagoria - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3608015. When Majus and Minus finally found Violence, they found that he was already locked into battle with the avatars Goliath, Yang'Ze, and Custos. The trail of destruction that Violence's horde had left attracted the attention of Teknall, Ull'Yang, and Kyre far in advance of the horde even reaching the coast of the White Ocean, thus prompting them to send their respective avatars to defeat ViolenceStand, pt 2. Custos, Goliath, and Yang'Ze confront Violence - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3766458. Despite being outnumbered, Violence was an avatar specifically designed to fight and destroy. Violence managed to draw out the fight between them until others intervened. First, Vowzra's avatar, the great turtle Vicegerent of the Vicegerent, and Astarte's avatar, Brown, beseeched the gathered divine beings to unite against Jvan, warning of a cataclysmic consequence should she be allowed to continue her plans. The evidence presented was minimal and not convincing enough to sway the battle to peace, but Yang'Ze withdrew to discuss the matter further, leaving the fight to Goliath and Custos. The fight continued until the more numerous avatars began to get the upper hand. Custos landed a strike on Violence, prompting Violence to possess the body of a mortal hain, Tular, who had been imparted with powerful chaotic destruction magic. Tular's magic turned the tables against Goliath and Custos. Majus and Minus observed the power on display and chose this moment to intervene. Minus bound Tular in its chains and Majus drove its hammer through Tular's skull, thus slaying ViolenceStand pt. 3, Violence is slain by Majus and Minus - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3931188. The rest of the chaotic horde in the region was eventually beaten back by a coalition of hain and air djinnis. Sularn's Prayer A time after the creation of the rovaick by Vestec, after the chaotic hordes marched in cardinal directions from the Ironheart mountains, populations of less violent rovaick were left behind to fend for themselves. These tribes spread to inhabit the Ironhearts due to their talent for digging out their homes, the safety that the mountains held from less mobile white giants, and the distance from established hain tribes and their urtelem protectors. One such tribe was lead by an azibo named Sularn, who was convinced that the rovaick patron Vestec had abandoned them. He performed a ritual to communicate with Teknall, Toun, and VulameraSularn's Prayer - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3492053. Vulamera was occupied with other affairs at the time, but, after a long enough period of prayer, Teknall and Toun listened. Toun personally visited Sularn after his ritual had continued daily for several years. Toun took the form of a perfect porcelain statue in Sularn's likeness and conversed with the azibo about what would be done should Toun help him. The conversation resulted in Toun inscribing the first instance of Sularn's Oath onto the back of Sularn's hand. The gift was joined with instructions on agriculture in the form of Tounic Calligraphy that took the shape of Toun's insignia on the floor beneath them. Teknall also arrived in person to promise a helper to grant the rovaick knowledge on metalworkingSularn takes his oath - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3663099. Toun and Teknall, with their goals aligned, separated on good terms. In return for Toun's favours, Sularn was not only beholden to his oath. Toun told him that he would seek out all with the mark of Sularn's Oath, should he spread it, to participate in the creation of paradise in the world. Afterwards, all who took the oath would enjoy paradise themselves. Sularn became Toun's prophet in his spreading of Toun's words and boons through the Ironheart mountains. This divine visitation ushered in an era of prosperity in the rovaick. They grew in power and influence via their new technology and Sularn's cult of Toun. Metalworking and agriculture soon spread from the Ironhearts to begin the bronze age and ubiquitous sedentary lifestyles on Galbar. Search for the Codex and Vulamera's End In order for Toun to enact his plans of bringing perfection to Galbar, he knew that there were secrets on the Codex of Creation he would require to reference. He knew that the Goddess of Knowledge, Vulamera, currently held the codex, so he took two measures to try and find it. First, he listened out to try and find her. Her trails were conspicuously absent. This prompted the second measure; enlisting the aid of Lazarus, the new Demigod of Secrets, to find the Codex. Toun sent Minus to watch over Lazarus while he searched. Toun focussed his attention to locating Vulamera in the meantimeOrder for Minus to stalk Lazarus and Toun finding out what happened to Vulamera'' - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3794080 . Unbeknownst to Toun in his relative isolation in Cornerstone, Vulamera had been driven mad trying to fathom the Codex in its entirety. He finally did find her trail, revealing her wanderings to be aimless and erratic. He came upon the sight of her death too late, but not too late to see Vowzra's trail implicating him in the event. There was no trace of the Codex. Toun followed Vowzra's trail in a fury, resolved to confront the God of Time and dispense retribution. He found the end of Vowzra's trail in the recently ruined demiplane of Chronos. The trail ended abruptly at an unseen door. Toun listened against it and heard the Other on the opposite side. He knew immediately that Vowzra had been consumed. Toun detected Jvan's trail all around. Her residue spoke of a great battle between the gods, one that had indeed occurred following rising tensions between the two deitiesJvan and Vowzra do battle - https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3833419. More importantly, Toun could tell that it was Jvan's unique affinity with the Gap which allowed her to hurl Vowzra into the a Gap portal and seal it just as easily. The news of two siblings dying brought Toun to an emotional breakdown. He wept in Chronos and broadcast to all divine creatures in the universe what he had found, beseeching them also to not commit any further fratricide. He sealed this promise in the Oath of StilldeathToun discerns Vowzra's fate and makes the Oath of Stilldeath - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3837118 . Only JvanJvan signs the Oath of Stilldeath - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3918965, AstarteAstarte signs the Oath of Stilldeath - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3838594, and TeknallTeknall signs the Oath of Stilldeath - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3837490 signed the pact. The Blinding Purge and Reconciliation with Jvan When the death of Vowzra reached Logos' ears across to Arcon, his response was to bring many of his realta to Galbar and take revenge on Jvan by hunting and destroying her creationsLogos launches the Blinding Purge - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3841659. Logos personally confronted Jvan in the Fractal Sea and the resulting battle almost resulted in Jvan's death and the spilling of the Other into the material worldLogos battles Jvan - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3957071. Toun had to perform his own damage control to protect his cult rovaick under Sularn in Rulanah. He sent Majus to destroy local attacking realta and keep the local rovaick safe. By coincidence, Teknall assisted Majus in his mission for the purposes of protecting his daughter Conata who was still living in Rulanah at the time. After repelling the initial assault, Majus spoke with Sularn to encourage him to make Toun's cult more powerful. He granted Sularn raw power and knowledge in turn, making him into a hero of TounMajus and Sularn's Blinding Purge debrief - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4067045. Whether the world-scale event of Logos' Blinding Purge or some other prompt urged Toun into action, physical machinations of his plans finally showed themselves more obviously. In Cornerstone, slave hain worked on building the shells of large creatures with bladed limbs and Toun designed new creatures to further his agenda. The first design to reach fruition was the flying siphonbeast, a huge floating, living energy source piloted by an installed slave hain. The flying siphonbeast was also the first example of Toun's endomaton design pattern.Toun creates droningbirds and flying siphonbeasts and gets Oaths portfolio - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4046628 Another creature was the droningbird, a simple, hummingbird-like automaton for pursuing and spying on specific beings. These creatures were spread all over Galbar to find and watch demigods, heros, and other areas of divine interest. In his pursuit of his promises, Toun solidified his influence over the portfolio of Oaths. With endomata and automata now under construction, Toun proceeded to visit Jvan for the purposes of confronting her about Vowzra's death and making sure she herself was recovering from whatever vengeance Logos laid upon her. Jvan's previous home on the southern edge of the Jvanic Ocean found her body empty, but finding her surviving essence was not difficult due to a fortunate encounter: One of Toun's droningbirds found Teknall near Alefpria, allowing them to converse.Toun and Teknall visit Jvan in Lex - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4147062 After discussing the aftermath of the Blinding Purge, Toun informed Teknall of one of his intentions: Securing the Codex of Creation now that it had transformed into the godkiller. Teknall agreed to help. In addition, Teknall conveyed to Toun the existence of Ovaedis and Lex via the exploration of his avatar, Goliath. Ovaedis was the best bet at finding Jvan. As Teknall was interested in hearing Jvan out for her actions as well, he joined Toun in his pursuit. Teknall and Toun did find Jvan in Ovaedis. She was in a weakened state and summoned Chiral Phi to speak for her. They spoke of many things. Most importantly, Jvan ensured via Chiral Phi that she would neither seek malicious harm upon other divine siblings, nor would she allow the horrors in the Gap to seep into the material realm of her accord. Other topics included Teknall's Codex Replica, the nature of the Change Eaters and their potential reaction from Zephyrion (should he return from his exile at the time), Jvan's resource sponsorship of Lifprasil, Toun satisfying Teknall's curiosity about how the hain were created, and finally a model for locating Julkolfyr's Orbs of Darkness which was abused by Chiral Phi for her own ends. The topics of the orbs and the codex replica in particular revealed how Vowzra had secretly influenced the Other via the hells of time to become ravenous and malicious. Toun and Teknall both found this new information most peculiar, though it did explain the initial tensions between Jvan and Vowzra. Teknall left satisfied with the information he had received and knowing that Jvan was okay after her battle with Logos. Toun went the opposite direction, venturing further into Ovaedis to speak with Jvan directly and privately. Jvan was confused at first, though she did not have the strength to stop him. Once in Jvan's presence at the centre of Ovaedis, Toun admitted that he was terrified to hear of the danger Jvan was in. He confided in Jvan that he had not been pursuing a paradise because Fate asked him to, but because he loves his siblings dearly. Every dead sibling had affected him deeply, and every dead sibling was a failure on his part. Jvan agreed that she was sick of their siblings dying. Toun insisted that, in future, Jvan should call for help if she is in danger again.Toun and Jvan resolve past matters in Ovaedis - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4152018 Later in their visit, Toun discovers the shards of his eye socket that had lodged into Jvan before the start of the universe. At this, he breaks down into tears, knowing that the shards had caused her unending pain as the fleck of her own essence had caused him torture as well. Jvan is shown the fleck of her essence in Toun as well. At first, Toun apologises profusely and waxes with regret. Jvan comforts Toun, saying that she had been made stronger by the pain and that they should not regret the past. Her words convey a meaning to Toun that calms his despondency; she had improved herself. With a renewed familiarity and forgiveness, Jvan and Toun part ways. On the way out of Ovaedis, Toun confronts Diaphane Whisper, Jvan's change eater sculptor. After reading her mind, he is softened by Whisper's love for her sisters, in spite of her bluster. As a parting gift, Toun bestows her a marking in the red shape of the tounic symbol for 'will.' This symbol suppressed her full sculptor transformation and gave her some small godly power to use as she wished. Yorum, Thacel, and Sibling Visitations to Cornerstone '' Edda recalls her escape from Xerxes and her vision of Toun - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4013153 Edda enters Loralom and witnesses King Akol in battle - https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4183113 The Loralom Spire is raised by King Akol's prayer to Toun - https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4310793 Ilunabar returns white giants and she and Toun accidentally create Thacel - https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4280328 Niciel visits and apologises to Toun about her angels attacking - https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4280905 Aitiraq visits Toun and describes Kyre and Zephyrion's ultimate fates - https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4298934 Domain and Portfolios Creation The act of creation is universal in its potential. One god could easily create a fly that lasts a moment, or a race that lasts for generations. Creations that last are those that make effort to survive. They adapt and evolve by bettering themselves. They become efficient, innovative, orderly, powerful, and unyielding. By bettering themselves, they all – by nature or by will – pursue the virtue of Toun; that of ultimate perfection. Toun is the patron of perfection and his creations reflect this. Perfection Beyond the standard abilities of all gods, Toun has a talent for crafting creations to serve particular purposes in the most efficient manner. Lesser creations keep everything clean and orderly, eating away and depositing any matter that rebels against a predefined pattern. Greater creatures seek out threats to perfection, resembling stilted, creeping automatons that pursue crusades against chaos in any capacity. All of Toun’s creations work towards one goal; replacing all chaotic elements in the universe with perfected, conforming patterns that never step back in constant self-improvement. As well, any creatures that strive to self-perfection and the virtue of Toun attract the favour of Toun. This can come in the form of removing or mitigating a flaw in some form or fashion, or simply providing the means to do so. Unfortunately, when extrapolated, the virtue of Toun goes beyond simple evolution. It holds an unrealistic standard for the entirety of creation in Toun’s own eyes. All creations are flawed in some tiny way, including Toun’s own. This is reflected in their appearance; cruel imitations of natural life, wrought of smooth, glistening porcelain that obscure twisted, brutal mechanisms of flesh and metal below. Even without peeking underneath their skin, they are never quite right. Their appearance is unsettling to anyone, not for how perfect they are, but rather for how very slightly imperfect they are. Those who gain boons from Toun eventually progress to this kind of appearance as well. Calligraphy As the name suggests. Toun was the one to invent Tounic Calligraphy, and unlocked the calligraphy domain by doing soTounic Calligraphy Unlock Post: http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3591837. The words that are written in Tounic Calligraphy hold power over the universe like demands of fact, rather than statements of them. Followers of Toun may practice such calligraphy and other penmanship as a result. For full information, see the Tounic Calligraphy page. Oaths Many things have changed in the world, but the principles of Toun have hardly shifted in eons. From the Oath of Stilldeath that binds gods, to Sularn’s Oath, to the oath taken by Edda to build Yorum, Toun’s influence has involved immutable promises that affect the world around them. By spending his godly might on grand promises to the universe, he unlocked power over the very concept of voluntary oaths. With this power, he is able to provide an incentive to those that hold oaths. These mainly come in the form of Tounic Oaths, a powerful pact that rewards the promised principles of those that take them. For full information, see the Tounic Oaths page. Personality Toun's way of thinking and feeling has changed over the ages following interactions with the world and his siblings. In the beginning, to describe Toun in a word would evoke ‘obsessive’ in most cases. Far from the robotic, uncaring paces of his creations, he pursued his goal of a perfected universe with a passion that bordered on insanity. When he was faced with a challenging obstacle, he became easily angered and felt entitled to continue unobstructed. Such slights against his vision of the universe often attracted spite and lasting hate against the one who orchestrated it, whether they intended to stop Toun or not. Underneath Toun’s outward bitterness and hate is was reflection of hate against himself. This self-hatred exists to this day as he is not a perfect being by his definition. He believed he was the one to perfect everything, but to hold him to such a standard is impossible. His goals are all that keeps him from auto-annihilation, or perhaps it is simply because he does not know how to truly destroy himself without being reborn as something that ruins all of his own work. In the meantime, he punishes himself for every flaw he produces. As everything he creates has a flaw by definition, he punishes himself often. Though it is not often admitted, Toun’s exact standard of perfection is paradoxical. One cannot have perfection without removing all chaotic elements. As chaos is an integral part of the sum of all existence, the only true perfection comes from a state where nothing exists. Therefore, despite Toun being derived from the domain of creation, all must be wiped clean from existence in order to be perfect. As a result, Toun is not a happy god. Any happiness he experiences is derived from the punishment of those who oppose his goals, but it is never a content happiness, it is only vengeance. However, he is aware of his unhappiness. Secretly, it is a longing desire of his to feel genuine happiness and joy as others do. He does not exactly know how it feels to be happy, but the jealousy of not knowing is, in essence, the flaw in his devotion to his goal. His ultimate flaw, if you will. All that said, the death of Toun's siblings affected him deeply. It was revealed by his shock at the fratricide committed that he had wished to perfect the universe so that his fellow siblings could live in a paradise. Therefore, every dead sibling was a failure. The deaths of Vulamera and Vowzra in particular caused him to reflect on what he wanted to really do, given that his actions were out of familial love. While he no longer wishes to pursue perfecting the universe, he still has a short temper that is easily compromised by chaos and criticism. If there is one thing that has remained most consistent about Toun's personality, it is his view of mortals. To Toun, all mortals are means to an end, tools that he can use and throw away. This includes heroes as well. Demigods are spared some of this impression due to their relationships with their parents, but they also must suffer Toun's common impression of them being small-minded children that are of little consequence. Relationships Toun is a habitually reclusive god. He confines himself to his own solitary works more often than not, resulting in relationships that are more often cordial and negative than positive. However, there are a few that he shares good terms with. Gods There are few gods that Toun does not treat with outward disdain, though he shares a hidden desire that all remain living and healthy. Many gods have not even spoken to him since the start of the universe, excepting minor encounters such as the battle between the avatar Violence and other avatars. Those that have interacted with Toun meaningfully since are under the following impressions: Astarte The last time Toun met Astarte was shortly after he created the Oath of Stilldeath and requested all gods to gather and honour the memory of their fallen siblings. Toun had been trying to decipher Vowzra's Cube at the time and had been stymied, causing frustration. The mere act of Astarte showing her whimsical face -- despondent though it was from death of Vowzra and Vulamera -- caused Toun to snap at her with a biting insult. Astarte was emotionally pressured by other matters at the time, making her return impotent anger. The insult also drew reprimand from Teknall and Vestec, causing Toun to storm off in a huff. When Toun reached the entrance of Chronos after hurting Astarte's feelings, he beheld the Oath of Stilldeath and saw that Astarte had signed it against his expectations. Surprised by Astarte's demonstration of care for the family, Toun swiftly returned to offer an half-hearted apology and to retort to Vestec's pestering. Whether or not Astarte returns the sentiment, Toun holds a reserved respect for the whimsical goddess. Though she is chaotic, undirected, and hedonistic, Toun appreciates that she cares about the divine family. Jvan The All-Beauty and the Porcelain Sire have always had a chequered history. Their first effecting interactions were before the beginning, when they fought over the Codex of Creation and ended up unintentionally swapping traces of each other into themselves. For Jvan, she had the shards of Toun's eye socket lodged in her body, cutting at her flesh and forcing her endless iterations to optima. For Toun, he had lickings of the Other painted into his mind, forcing him to create and iterate to the point of constantly making faults in compromise of more creations. For time uncountable, Toun deeply resented Jvan and all she did. The painful disability of primordial Other in his mind constantly tore at him and forced him to create things he regretted. However, he had not given thought to the possibility that Jvan had swallowed his eye socket shards. Two events changed Toun's opinion of Jvan. The first was the death of Vowzra and Vulamera. Even though Jvan had murdered Vowzra, Toun was driven to such depression by the consecutive deaths of his siblings that he wanted to do away with thoughts of violence against the rest of them. Following this was a private talk between Toun and Jvan that fostered a better understanding of each other as well as revealing that Toun's eye socket shards were indeed still lodged within Jvan. In the emotion that Toun poured out following this revelation, he regretted that Jvan was suffering in a similar fashion to him with the primordial other lodged in his mind. Jvan responded by saying that the shards had forced her to improve herself, and the pain was therefore worth it. Toun had not expected that Jvan would be interested in such a thing, and she earned a modicum of respect and affection from him in that moment. This relationship with Jvan purely familial, but the positive elements are still a secret between them. Niciel Niciel's post-creation interactions with Toun have been unfortunately limited to Vestec's ruse to turn them against each other with captured angels that had been fooled into attacking Cornerstone Vestec's angel ruse against Cornerstone - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3524307. While Niciel saw through the prank, Toun has since held a mistrusting opinion of Niciel. Only his other pursuits have prevented him taking any sort of revenge. Neither have apologised to each other about the incident Niciel and Toun's breakdown discussion regarding Vestec's angels - http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3584376. Teknall In contrast to all of Toun's brothers and sisters, Teknall has been the only sibling that Toun would call a friend and ally. This has mostly been incidental of their collaboration with some common goals, though Teknall's show of patience towards Toun's acerbic behaviour has helped them to help each other. For all this cooperation, Toun and Teknall still respectfully disagree on a number of topics. The main body of disagreement stems from mortals, to which Teknall is far more sympathetic than Toun. Others are minor matters regarding function of creations and approach to such things. Neither delude themselves by thinking they can shift the other's point of view on most of their divergent opinions. Vestec As expected, Vestec has always tried to cause trouble for Toun whenever they cross paths. Vestec has challenged him, berated him, goaded him, and teased him to the point that Toun is set in his opinion of Vestec. Though Toun does not wish Vestec dead, he would not complain to see him suffer a little. Ilunabar Demigods, Avatars, and Heros Toun has had all but no meaningful direct interaction with non-gods. Though he spies on most of them with his droningbirds, he has not pursued to speak with any but a few. Chiral Phi Toun's first mandate in spying on Chiral Phi via droningbirds was to keep track of the Gap rift that she was created to hold shut. Phi quickly caught on to Toun's voyeurism and has entertained herself by showing off her personality and taking as many opportunities as she can to grate on Toun. In turn, Toun quickly learned of Phi's habitual lying and twisting of words such that he does not trust a single thing that comes out of her mouth and affords her only the minimum amount of patience. These opinions have only been exacerbated since Toun and Phi met personally in Ovaedis, when Phi took the role of Jvan's mouthpiece while Jvan was still weakened by the wounds Logos inflicted upon her. Diaphane Whisper The entropite hero and Toun have only met twice. Once was in passing to Ovaedis, where neither made a flattering impression to each other. The second encounter was on Toun's way out of the same visit to Ovaedis. Toun sees Diaphane Whisper as inconsequential to his plans, but he unusually sympathised with her plight amongst her ravenous sorority. In giving her a glyph of power (a freepoint), he hoped that she might use it to take control of her destiny. Toun is unlikely to look poorly upon meeting her again, if they ever do cross paths once more. Sularn The azibo prophet of Rulanah was something of an opportunity exploited by Toun. Sularn prayed for help, originally to further the prosperity of his people, and both Toun and Teknall answered. Toun has since provided Sularn and his people with many powerful boons, but he still treats Sularn as he would any other mortal; nothing Sularn does is quite satisfactory enough and he is merely a means to an end. To what end Toun supports the rovaick under Sularn is not clear. Thacel Others Like other non-gods, any mortal entities appear to have only been contacted by Toun for his own self interest, if his patterns are to continue. Edda Edda, the Marked Hain of Yorum, was given a mission by Toun in exchange for saving the lives of herself and her friends. Edda had received visions of Toun, but only his usual disdain was evident. How Toun truly feels about Edda and why he has enlisted her to carry out his will is not clear. Description The thought of Toun in the mind of those who witness him is similar to the feeling one gets when they see a mannequin with lidless, peering eyes; a feeling of unease and disturbance. His presence is alien because he is the epitome of flawed perfection. Still, those who do not know the truth of his standard of perfection may even see his pursuits as noble. To spread a philosophy of self-betterment gives an impression of wanting what is best for his followers. To those who commit themselves to the virtue of Toun, the goal of perfecting the universe is not often thought of to its logical conclusion by Toun’s standards. If it is, it is not seen as a bad outcome amongst the loyal. This is because Toun’s word is that of chaos being the root of all suffering in the universe. To purge it is to reach contentment. Followers of Toun find his perfect presence to be comforting, as they may aspire to such near-perfection themselves. All others see Toun as an insidious force of heartless, unfeeling annihilation. The more he creates, the more he assimilates and replaces, the more he destroys. If people refuse to follow his goal, he seeks to remove them. The only way for mortals to appease Toun is to convince him that they are aligned with putting the universe in a final state of static order and perfection. His levels of trust, however, are based on his mood. If he has been recently deceived, he is unlikely to take the advice of another being. He may even do the opposite out of spite, without trying to process whether that is manipulation in the first place. Beings associated with chaos or chaotic behaviours are never seen in a good light by Toun. To him, they undo his work and spite his ultimate goal. His brightest wrath is reserved for such beings. Creations Species * White Giants * Hain * Droningbirds * Flying Siphonbeasts Holy Sites * Cornerstone * Loralom Spire Avatars * Majus * Minus Others * Sularn's Oath * The Oath of Stilldeath Musical Theme References Category:Gods Category:Creation Domain